Two years ago I went for Juvederm to fill in my...
Two years ago I went for Juvederm to fill in my parenthesis lines. The doctor had a little more left (half of one syringe) and suggested a large impact could be made if we put it in my upper lip. I never had obsessed about my small upper lip before that, but once I saw it bigger I realized I LOVED the look. I never wanted a small upper lip again. It made me look so much prettier to have a lip that did not vanish when I smiled, and so the following year I got another half syringe.
Now, it is expensive to maintain my Botox, my Voluma, and my Juvederm upper lip, so when I heard about Permalip as a permanent solution, I researched it for probably 1 and a half years on Real Self, youtube, and elsewhere. Finally this February I went to a consultation with a well-reviewed Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Robert Houser, who performs the Permalip procedure in Ohio. His office is over a 2 hour drive for me, but that is not so bad! I can tell he is highly skilled, confident, and has a great personality. He showed me some other ladies in his office who had the procedure, and it was so nice. I couldn't tell anything had been done to their lips... very natural!
Now it is March, and I just put down my $500 deposit to officially book my date which will be April 18. I am SO excited! I have planned to fly to Florida the day after the procedure, and recover there for 7 days before coming back to Ohio and returning to work and the public. I am a little anxious about how I will look to people at the air port and such the day after my procedure, but I will wear a surgical mask and hopefully people will just assume I'm a germ-phoebe.
The plastic surgeon is going to give me 5mm in the upper lip. The deal is buy one get one free, so even though my lower lip is full, I am going for a 4mm on the bottom. I seriously can't wait!
Less than 1 week, my thoughts in regards to picking size
When I first went to the consultation, I was so excited about the notion of having a bigger top lip that I gravitated to Large (5mm). But as my procedure date approaches in less than a week I am 100% certain that I am going to do a 4mm, as it will be more appropriate for the thin lip I am starting out with. I decided this because
1.) All of the lips on Real Self that are similar to my before, and who's lips I love in the "afters", have gone with 4mm. (For example the permalip reviewers "ega3" and "KateFD", "giada" among others.)
2.) I read a medical evaluation of Permalip called "Five-year Experience with Perma Facial Implant by Peter Raphael, MD, Ryan Harris, BA, and Scott W. Harris, MD" and it states in this review of 832 Permalip patients, 78% chose 4mm (most used!), 13% chose 5mm, and 9% chose 3mm. It said 5mm " were mainly used in removal and replacements when patients requested additional volume", as opposed to being the implant placed initially.
Additionally the medical paper stated "Regarding implant girth (SIZE in mm), overaugmenting is relatively more common and noticeable. It tends to produce a tight appearance, a horizontal shadow, or perivermilion bulging depending on the angle of view. We term this phenomenon “ridging”... In addition to this, the paper goes on to say "We have thus learned to avoid 5-mm implants as primary treatments. Starting with 4 mm ones (3 mm if the lip looks too thin) allows adequate tissue expansion for eventual 5 mm placement."
Reading this paper made me even more sure I want 4mm!
3.) I saw several people on the internet who went with 5mm, when their lip was not very substantial to begin with, and it looked like it distorted the cupids bow, elongated the lips into sausages, and gave a "plastic surgery" look. I think 5mm works best for ladies who already being with full-ish lips. In my before you see just how thin my lip is, and I just KNOW a 5mm would look odd in it.
In conclusion, I am very excited and looking forward to 4mm. I think it will be subtle, it will keep the shape I am used to, and it will still provide an enhancement. In my case, I do not have the goal of large lips, but of a more balanced top lip. I hope if you are in the same boat I am in, this will help you a bit, but of course it is a unique situation for each person based on their lip tissue and goals.
Tomorrow is the Procedure day
Here are some photos of me today, with half a syringe Juvederm still in my UPPER LIP ONLY, last injected October 26 2015 (ten months ago). It is clear to see that my juvederm does in fact still give the upper lip some boost, as opposed to the photos I posted of when I had NO juvederm. I will use these as kind of my true before photos, so after tomorrow's procedure I can compare.
Procedure complete!
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18 Apr 2016
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Day of treatment
I got to be the example patient for medical students to watch in on! Very cool. This made me feel even more confident about the skill level of my surgeon (who is awesome by the way). He verbally walked them through everything as they watched what he was doing. I liked getting to hear little surgeon tips and tricks. Made it very interesting, as well as beautifying! I learned that all doctors certified to do Permalip must be personally interviewed by the Surgisil/ Permalip founder. It is a way of Permalip ensuring their brand is being implemented in the best hands. The surgeon told the students his favorite permalip implants to place were the 4mm because they are more pliable and easier to fish through the tunnel.
The part I didn't like was the fact that my heart RACED in a scary way, due to the dental block injection stuff. I was warned that it was a stimulant, and would do that to me, but that was far worse than the injections themselves because I felt scared about the speed my heart ( I thought maybe I was experiencing a state of "heart fluttering" more than normal, but I guess that was normal). The dental block shots were a little scary too, but I was prepared for it, so I clenched my fists and took the pain.
The surgery was kind of fun actually. I couldn't feel anything but tugging. I also did NOT hear the scissor snips of my lips, which I am grateful of. Probably because I was intently listening to the "lesson" for the medical students. The procedure took 15 minutes tops, and I was done!
On the drive home (2 hours, but I got lost so it was like 2 hr 40) my numbing stuff wore off and the pain set in. I had it throbbing between about level 6-7 pain for most of the way home. I got water in my eyes, not from crying but from pain. But I didn't want to be drowsy while driving, so I just pressed on and I was tough.
Once home, I took an RX pain pill I had left from my previous surgery. I also put on oragel b/c it has lidocane in it. I iced my lips throughout the drive home, and I continue to ice them. I brushed my teeth with the little toothbrushes pictured.. not bad! Washing my face was so weird. Feels strange.
I am very happy with how they are looking. I am feeling confident this was worth every penny.
Day After procedure (day 2) - early morning
I am so thankful I had Tylonol #3, and very good sleeping pills, both left over from my previous surgery. The pain medicine has really been a blessing. The sleeping pill was wonderful because I sleep face down by default, and in this case of lip surgery, I had to sleep propped up a little bit. The pill helped me do that.
I woke up 5 minutes to the cell phone timer of when my next pain pill was due, which shows A.) how much pain I'm in when the pill wares out, and B.) how nice that pill is to warding off the pain when it's active. So thankful! Otherwise I was not prescribed anything. I guess over the counter things would have been fine if I didn't already have these.
I think I am looking more swollen now. Though this is day 2, the true marker of 24 hours passing since the procedure will be at 2:30pm, so this will give you an idea. I'm at 16 hours after surgery now.
recovering quicker than normal!!!
By the end of yesterday (the day after procedure) i was already drinking COLD drinks from cups without a straw. Today is day 2 and I'm drinking hot coffee through a straw. Zero pain without any pain pills. I yawned and it didn't hurt. I can be in public without people thinking something is wrong... i can kind of smile and i can speak easily but not 100%.
Day 3 - fabulous, loving my lips
I'm amazed what a breeze this has been! The first day after my procedure was the hardest to speak and be in public, but all day yesterday (post day 2) i could speak an 8 out of 10 (with 10 being speaking normally). I have been without pain since yesterday morning, I'm on vacation, and my lips are hindering next to nothing. I feel good, i like how they look. They are perfectly placed and centered. I have a lot of swelling still, but i love that look. I'd be fine if the swelling did not ho down much more, however at this point I'm still glad i got 4mms bc i think it was the best size to fit in my previously tiny lip.
day 4 in the morning
I can't open all that wide for eating but I'm getting better. Still stiff but i speak fine. Loving them more and more
day 5 morning
1 stitch dissolved yesterday. This morning the swelling seems diminished..hope they do not deflate any more.
day 5 morning
Lost the 2nd stitch last night. From day 4 morning to day 4 night my mouth mobility greatly increased. I can laugh and smile big now. I can eat bigger bites. Loving my lips!
two weeks since procedure
I really love them. No issues!
the huge difference 4mms can make!
100% happy. 4mms makes a huge impact without the "did she have her lips done?"look. Worth the money...go to a good surgeon!
2 months later
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18 Jun 2016
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2 months post
I still love them. I forget they are there...they feel natural. No problems ever. So happy!
3 months
I am so happy i did it. Subtle and natural... no more vanishing top lip
Did Permalip in April, now it is August. still happy!
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15 Aug 2016
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4 months post
Im so used to them. I seldomly know consciously that implants are there because they do not feel unnatural. Very happy with the choice!
still happy but im getting a fat transfer too
I want to update. Don't get me wrong...i LOVE my lips. I could leave them as is and be happy. But i have flat cheeks in my 30's that simply require fat transfer which i am having done on January 25 2016. You pay by the quadrant... and my lips are included in one of the quadrants I am *already* paying for to treat my nasolabial lines. So... naturally I told him I will be happy if he puts a touch of fat in my lips too. If i was not doing my fat transfer i wouldn't care to do this. But I won't mind a tad more.
Fat Transfer (on top of permalips) post op 1
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26 Jan 2017
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9 months post
Fat transfer on top of permalip. Only a tiny bit added. Like I said, I was happy with them but since I am paying for my whole face to have a fat transfer, I told him to go ahead and do a touch more to my lips.
2 weeks after fat transfer
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8 Feb 2017
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10 months post
So Doctor only did a TINY bit of fat transfer to my lips (since I was paying for it anyways) as part of a full face fat transfer - 32 cc of fat from my hip injected into my face. My face looks so much younger, My lips look about the same which is A-OK with me because I liked them thanks to my permalip. I have a separate review on RS for my fat transfer.
